Is Gardasil a Psoriasis Trigger?

Is Gardasil a Psoriasis Trigger?
from Steph (a.k.a. chilly9296 on PsorChat)

Ed’s Intro: The following is excerpted, with permission, from a brief exchange on this subject that took place on PsorChat this past January. Drugs as possible P-triggers are not, however, a new or even recent theme. When nothing environmental changes in a life, and after starting a new drug therapy P erupts for the first time, or even flares after being under control for years, it’s my opinion that the drug should be considered a possible trigger. One of the problems with reinforcing this consideration is the fact that, most of the time, if a non-recreational drug use is started, it’s usually because of some other problem. Many doctors will suggest the causal problem, rather than its therapy, be blamed for the P eruption or flare. Chilly9296 (a.k.a. Steph), a PsorChat group member, provided this suggestion on January 21st.

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Gardasil is a fairly new vaccine given to young women ages 12-26 to prevent cervical cancer and prevent 2 strains of HPV. I was 23 when I received the shots. I was in a very monogamous relationship that I plan on being in for a few decades. I trusted my GYN when she recommended that I get the series of 3 shots. It was weeks after the first shot that I developed psoriasis and it continued to progress as I got each shot. It wasn’t until the summer when I switched doctors that I put 2 and 2 together. I spoke with my GYN again in October and informed her of the psoriasis, the link to Gardasil and the difficulties I had been going through in the last year. She called the Gardasil drug rep to report the problem and a couple of weeks later I heard from someone at the company who wanted to do a full investigation and report everything to the CDC.

If you are having an issue with the shot I would encourage you to ask your doctor to report it to the drug rep. If enough people file reports, hopefully it will be included in the drug pamphlet. If I had known I was at risk for this happening I never would have gotten the vaccination, especially since I really didn’t need it. -Steph

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